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For Sale: John W. Hobbs Accessory Reel Out Trunk/Under Hood light


Riviera63

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I have for sale a very nice John W. Hobbs accessory reel out trunk/under hood light. Long story short in my search for a reel out light for my car I ended up with 2 of them. Originally this is the one I was going to put in my car. It has been cleaned, repainted and tested. The line pulls out and retracts smoothly and the lens is perfect. One thing I noticed with these lights is that when you take them in and out the bracket scratches the top of the light and the bottom of the light scratches the bracket. I added felt to the underside of the bracket arms and also to the bottom of the light. This should eliminate or at least minimize the scratches keeping the light looking like new. With the felt pads on the bottom of the light also enables you to place the light on any surface without worrying about it scratching that surface. The felt is removable if you so choose. I am offering it to forum members for what I paid for it. $80.00 plus S & H. Please PM me if interested. Thanks.

 

Bill

 

 

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Recently there was a discussion as to where the factory intended this lamp to be mounted.  Nothing concrete came from that discussion.  I called a friend of mine who deals in a lot of 1st gen Riviera parts and asked him what he knew about this.  He said that he had a dealer manual that dealt with the installation of accessories at the dealership and thought he'd remembered seeing this.  He couldn't remember exactly where it was suggested that the lamp be mounted but he did remember that when new, the lamp came with three clips that went on the inner trunk frame so the lamp could be mounted without drilling any holes. Sorry that I don't know more.

Edited by RivNut (see edit history)
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1 hour ago, RivNut said:

Recently there was a discussion as to where the factory intended this lamp to be mounted.  Nothing concrete came from that discussion.  I called a friend of mine who deals in a lot of 1st gen Riviera parts and asked him what he knew about this.  He said that he had a dealer manual that dealt with the installation of accessories at the dealership and thought he'd remembered seeing this.  He couldn't remember exactly where it was suggested that the lamp be mounted but he did remember that when new, the lamp came with three clips that went on the inner trunk frame so the lamp could be mounted without drilling any holes. Sorry that I don't know more.

 

I think that in that discussion with the evidence given by Tom M., Tom T. and Rivdrivn we have pretty good evidence pointing to the placement location of the trunk light. See Pics 1-4

 

Pics 5-6 show the clips Ed is referring to and the hex head screws used. Tom M. recalled (see below) that the clips may have been used when mounting the light under the hood. From the set up of the Riviera trunk I think that one is going to have to drill holes and use just the hex head screws to mount the trunk light. It may be different for other years and models.

 

Tom M. said:

 

"Over the years I have bought and installed these kits....but it has been a long time ago. They were very common to show up in the `80`s at most Buick swap meets.

  The kits contained 2 different jumper harnesses. There were also 3 hex head screws and clips to accept the screws when installing the light under the hood. There were instruction sheets which covered various years but I don't remember any Riviera specific instructions. I think the instructions may have been relatively generic."

 

"I don't think it is possible to locate the light smack dab in the center of the Riviera trunk lid because the depression in the center of the support ribs is larger in diameter than the feet of the trouble light. I remember fishing the jumper harness thru the voids created by the support channels and thru one of the oval holes near the center."

 

Bill

 

 

 

 

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Bill,

 

   Just to let you know I used three short sheet metal screws to mount mine. MAKE SURE THEY ARE NOT TOO LONG or else you'll end up with divet makes in the deck lid. IF I remember correctly I used a 1/8" drill bit. AND, just to be picky I personally don't like the rubber hose as it can move. That's why I use masking tape. IF it is put on tightly it WON'T MOVE.

 

Tom T.

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2 hours ago, telriv said:

Bill,

 

   Just to let you know I used three short sheet metal screws to mount mine. MAKE SURE THEY ARE NOT TOO LONG or else you'll end up with divet makes in the deck lid. IF I remember correctly I used a 1/8" drill bit. AND, just to be picky I personally don't like the rubber hose as it can move. That's why I use masking tape. IF it is put on tightly it WON'T MOVE.

 

Tom T.

 

Thanks Tom, good advice.

 

Bill

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7 hours ago, RivNut said:

Recently there was a discussion as to where the factory intended this lamp to be mounted.  Nothing concrete came from that discussion.  I called a friend of mine who deals in a lot of 1st gen Riviera parts and asked him what he knew about this.  He said that he had a dealer manual that dealt with the installation of accessories at the dealership and thought he'd remembered seeing this.  He couldn't remember exactly where it was suggested that the lamp be mounted but he did remember that when new, the lamp came with three clips that went on the inner trunk frame so the lamp could be mounted without drilling any holes. Sorry that I don't know more.

Ed,

  This doesnt make any sense. Not drilling any holes would require an open flange framework so narrow that it would need to be captured by the dimension of the clip with enough clip overhang to provide a tab for the screw to protrude through. There are no such open flanges under the trunk lid. There are open flanges under the hood but these still require a hole which the clip aligns with and captures the screw.

  Who is your friend? I have never seen an accessories installation "manual" and would like to know more about same.

Tom
 

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AND, an addition for everyone. I didn't have the extra piece of wire to lengthen the wire from the original location. What I did was remove the plastic sleeve from the wire & pulled the orange wire through the channel to where I wanted the light mounted. Then put the plastic clip back on.

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Here's the thing about these retractable lights: I've got one on another vehicle, and I don't think I've ever reeled it out except to clean it.  From a practical sense, a headlamp works far better for task illumination.  If you ever use your trunk, one might also think it's susceptible to damage when the trunk is closed and it smashes into your luggage or case of beer.

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